targeted

verb

past tense of target
as in harassed

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for targeted
  1. harassed
  2. taunted
  3. tormented
  4. pestered
  5. ragged
  6. baited
  7. bugged
  8. teased
Verb
  • The speaker didn’t take disciplinary action against Benton until this year when a female lobbyist said she was harassed by him at a River North bar in January, the Tribune reported.
    — Rick Pearson, Chicago Tribune, 7 Aug. 2026
  • The same trans-activists who screamed at me in legislatures and harassed me at colleges could misuse the Protect College Sports Act to challenge every single state law defending women’s athletic competition…all 27 of them.
    — Riley Gaines OutKick, FOXNews.com, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of harassed
Verb
  • The older Green Lantern taunted the alien so much, that the creature detonated itself, blowing a hole into the side of the jail.
    — Anthony D'Alessandro, Deadline, 16 Aug. 2026
  • Kotzmacher said people leaving the arena pointed, laughed and taunted her group over Indiana’s loss and Cunningham’s performance.
    — Jackson Thompson OutKick, FOXNews.com, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of taunted
Verb
  • She was tormented by stomach pains that grew increasingly fierce.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 13 Aug. 2026
  • Noxious smoke and an influx of rats and flies attracted to rotting meat stored at the facility have tormented neighbors.
    — Dakota Smith, Los Angeles Times, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of tormented
Verb
  • Players like Ousmane Dembélé, Michael Olise, Désiré Doué and more have simply pestered country after country, possessing the ball well and finding all types of angles to strike on goal.
    — Scott Thompson, FOXNews.com, 13 July 2026
  • Scheierman also hit two earlier threes, grabbed five rebounds and pestered Gilgeous-Alexander to force a third-quarter turnover to help Boston take down the defending NBA champions 119-109.
    — Zack Cox, Boston Herald, 26 Mar. 2026
Definition of pestered
Verb
  • On that night in March, to the surprise of nobody, Arsenal ran their mid-table Premier League hosts ragged, beating them 5-1, with Henry and Freddie Ljungberg scoring twice, and Kolo Toure netting the other.
    — Dan Sheldon, New York Times, 11 Jan. 2026
Definition of ragged
Verb
  • In our testing, a paper-funnel trap baited with overripe fruit and fruit-forward vinegar consistently caught the most flies.
    — Emma Jacobson, Bon Appetit Magazine, 13 Aug. 2026
  • Some programs investigate complaints by setting small surveillance traps—often baited with light, carbon dioxide, water, or another attractant—to collect mosquitoes, identify the species, and gauge where activity is concentrated.
    — Angela Haupt, Time, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of baited
Verb
  • The indictment revealed that prosecutors had bugged the Aisenbergs' home for three months after Sabrina's disappearance.
    — Curran Rastogi, ABC News, 10 Aug. 2026
  • The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, a law-enforcement agency known as NABU, had bugged Mindich’s apartment in Kyiv, and detectives picked up his conversations about Fire Point.
    — Simon Shuster, The Atlantic, 17 July 2026
Definition of bugged
Verb
  • Fillion has already played Guy in previous DC Universe projects, including Superman and season 2 of Peacemaker, and teased that his character’s signature confidence wanes in Lanterns.
    — Skyler Trepel, PEOPLE, 16 Aug. 2026
  • Sorvino previously teased the sequel back in 2024, explaining that the original writer, Robin Schiff, was finalizing the script at the time.
    — Meg Walters, InStyle, 15 Aug. 2026
Definition of teased
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

target
targeted
targeting
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Cite this Entry

“Targeted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/targeted. Accessed 19 Aug. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of targeted for Spanish Speakers

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